District of Delaware

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WILMINGTON, Del. – David C. Weiss, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced today that Willie Brothers, Jr., of Wilmington, was sentenced to 9 years’ incarceration following a conviction for conspiracy to distribute heroin. Brothers’ co-defendant, Raheem Ridley, is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

According to documents filed and statements made in open court, Brothers led a group of people who packaged and sold approximately 40,000 bags of heroin mixed with Fentanyl. Fentanyl is an opiate that is 50 times stronger than heroin and largely responsible for a dramatic increase in overdose deaths in the region. During his conspiracy with Ridley, Brothers provided Ridley with a handgun that had been used in multiple shootings in the city of Wilmington, including a homicide on October 14, 2015. When Brothers was arrested by the members of the Wilmington Police Department on November 4, 2015, four firearms were found in the car he was driving. Two of those firearms were associated with multiple prior shootings in Wilmington, including a shooting on November 2, 2015, when a 13-year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet.

Acting United States Attorney David C. Weiss said, “Drug dealers who use firearms and sell Fentanyl-laced heroin have no regard for human life. These defendants are the top priority for the New Castle County HIDTA. Together we are committed to investigating, prosecuting and removing these individuals from our community.”

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by multiple agencies in the New Castle County HIDTA Group. The FBI Safe Streets Drug Taskforce and Cecil County Drug Taskforce led the investigation with significant assistance from the Delaware State Police, Wilmington Police Department and the Delaware Attorney General’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe and Assistant United States Attorney Shawn A. Weede.